KATV (Channel 7) – As Iran’s government faces accusations of killing thousands of protesters and arresting tens of thousands more in a sweeping crackdown on dissent, there have been few large-scale demonstrations condemning the regime’s actions.
It stands in contrast to the protests that have taken place across the country in response to the U.S.-Israeli military strikes on Iran that have largely focused on opposition to American involvement in the conflict. While rallies against the strikes have drawn crowds in major cities, there has been no sustained nationwide demonstrations like the Gaza war encampments in response to Tehran’s crackdown. The change in public response has drawn criticisms from some activists and lawmakers, who have questioned why the regime’s crackdown hasn’t prompted broader protests in the U.S.
British Iranian actress Nazanin Boniadi asked during an appearance on CNN why activists didn’t rise up in response to the Iranian regime’s bloody crackdown on protesters that killed thousands.
“For people who care about international law as I do, I’m getting plenty of messages from colleagues in entertainment and saying, ‘I’m so sorry in this moment, what’s happening to your people.’ Thank you, but where were you a few weeks ago, when tens of thousands of Iranians were being killed by their own regime?” Boniadi said. “This is a regime that has been violating international law for decades.”
The Human Rights Activists News Agency, an America-based advocacy group that fights for rights in Iran, has verified more than 7,000 deaths. That toll is expected to climb as more investigations continue, a level of violence against protesters human rights group say is unmatched in recent history.
Some 50,000 Iranians have been arrested since early January, according to HRANA.
It is just the most recent example of Iran’s hardline leadership with brutal shows of force. Popular uprisings over the years over deteriorating economic conditions, women’s rights and drinking water shortages have been met with an aggressive response from the regime’s security forces.
“Look, in 1979, progressives world over, including in Iran, were all too willing to sacrifice women‘s rights, LGBTQ+ rights and every other basic human rights at the altar of anti-imperialism. Are we going to do the same in this moment? Are we really caring more about whose hands are on the trigger, or are we going to care about human lives, civilian lives?” Boniadi told CNN.
“This is a regime that has violated human rights,” she continued. “International law has wreaked havoc on the region, domestic oppression, transnational repression, hostage diplomacy, destabilizing the region. And now, it’s killing fellow Muslims in neighboring countries. Where is your outrage? Where are the college campuses?”
Trump cited the deaths of protesters during his initial threats to take military action in Iran, at one point telling them, “help is on its way.”
In recent days, the president has encouraged Iranians to rise up again as part of the administration’s push to install new leadership in Tehran. But there are questions about whether people will continue to rise up against a regime that may become more repressive as leadership figures are killed.
“We’ll see what happens with the people,” Trump said on Tuesday as he hosted Chancellor Friedrich Merz of Germany, referring to the possibility of another uprising in Iran during the war. “You know, they have their chance.”
Some lawmakers have questioned why protests haven’t broken out in the streets and on college campuses like they did during the war in Gaza.
“On college campuses, where you had students living in tents, protesting their own country, protesting Israel, there are no encampments now,” Sen. Tom Cotton, R-Ark., told KATV in an interview during the Iranian protests. “Nobody has seized campus buildings. It makes you think they weren’t focused on innocent lives, they were focused on attacking Israel and attacking the United States.”
Americans were broadly skeptical about military involvement in Iran during the run-up to Trump authorizing the operation. Polling taken as the death toll from Tehran’s crackdown showed Americans were split on whether the U.S. had a moral responsibility to help protesters and opposed to using military force in response.
A Quinnipiac University survey from January found 70% said the U.S. shouldn’t get involved in Iran. An Ipsos study found only 13% of Americans said the U.S. had a responsibility to support the protests, while 44% believed it does and 41% were unsure.
Voters’ primary concern in getting involved militarily has been it dragging into another open-ended conflict in the Middle East. Nearly 60% of Americans in a CNN poll released on Monday said they disapprove of the war, along with 56% who said they see a long-term conflict as at least somewhat likely.